


Hello, My Loneliness

by Guardian_Leonhart_Strife



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_Leonhart_Strife/pseuds/Guardian_Leonhart_Strife
Summary: A one-shot where the last person Cloud wanted to see appeared at his side as he inched closer to death.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81





	Hello, My Loneliness

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> So, I'm trying to do my own writing prompt challenge type-of-thing to hopefully help me get comfortable with my writing again and also get some stories posted a bit more regularly. I was recommended a [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/) by a [friend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWolf64/pseuds/PhantomWolf64) to help get this weird idea of mine going. One of the prompts posted inspired this one-shot, and [a lovely redditor](https://www.reddit.com/user/Quaita99) was nice enough to grant me permission to take their prompt and run with it. The prompt was inspired by [this song](https://soundcloud.com/nightcore_123/hello-my-l-o-n-e-l-i-n-e-s-s?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=0) which is also where the title of this story came from.
> 
> Here's the writing prompt:
> 
> When a person feels strong emotions, it’s personification appears alongside them. You wanted to hate your negative emotions but they would give anything to protect you. Especially from themselves.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. The characters are property of Square Enix.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story and thank you for taking the time to read it!

Cloud smacked against a sheer rock wall, the fusion sword slipping out of his fingers and clattering to the ground. He slid down the sharp jagged surface until his knees buckled as he sunk lower, finally dropping him onto his ass. Hazy eyes rolled around a little when his fingers numbly lifted toward his neck to inspect an injury. The entire left side of his body was soaked in blood as it spewed out with the thrum of his pulse. 

He winced when a few of his fingers slipped into a deep gouge, knowing another deep puncturing wound was further out of his reach on his back. An irritated glare was shot toward the corpse steadily vanishing a little ways away from him, bit by bluish-green bit fluttering off with an imperceptible breeze. Damn Zoloms shouldn’t be out here, not this far. He huffed. Lucky him.

The damn thing had sprung one last surprise when it whipped its head back in response to Cloud’s accidentally fatal blow, launching him 30 feet into the air before his body cracked against the cliffside he didn’t remember seeing. A smirk crawled over his lips. He was lucky he slipped one of the smaller blades from his fusion sword into the monstrous snake’s mouth when he did. He was trying to pry its jaws open to release where it had clamped down on him, but instead dealt a deadly wound of his own through the back of the damn thing’s throat in the process.

Cloud watched the massive scaly form disappear, the creature joining the lifestream with hardly any fanfare at all. Zoloms were great when he needed to get away from everything and search for a distraction to blow off some steam, but this time he’d been on a legitimate job. He was heading for Junon to hop on a ship and make his way to Rocket Town with one of his deliveries. He had to go inland a bit to reach Junon since it wasn’t a straight shot from Edge, but he didn’t think he’d gone that far in. Mythril Mine was hours away still, and further east beyond it was the Midgar Zolom’s marshland home. Before he’d even righted his path back toward Junon he’d spotted the monstrous snake making its way northwards. The smirk fell from his lips as implications of what might’ve happened had he not found the thing came to mind. Nowhere north deserved a Zolom to come slithering in when nobody was expecting it, especially not if he was too far away to take care of it. 

Cloud tilted his head back, thumping it carelessly against the rough surface that was keeping him upright. His eyes rolled back beneath fluttering eyelids for a second or two, or so he thought. Forcing them open again revealed the sun’s position in the sky above had changed. His mind reeled, realizing he’d been unconscious and had lost a few hours. Cloud felt his fear spike when he reached up and checked the tender wound again. It hadn’t scarred over yet as it should have, blood still trickling down from his neck beneath his clothes. The brief rush of fear came and went quickly though and he let his hand fall, his fingers landing on the ground with a wet smack. Blood had been pooling around him while he was passed out. He should’ve been worried or concerned, but all he did was huff and smirk again.

This was it. This was how he died. Alone, up against a wall, out in the middle of nowhere and nobody knew where he was.

He had materia and enough potions with him to heal a few severed limbs if he needed to whenever he travelled alone. It was a compromise between him and his friends just to be allowed to go anywhere by himself to begin with. Unfortunately, Cloud had left it all on Fenrir, grabbing and assembling his blade quickly from the motorcycle’s compartments before rushing out after the Zolom. He hadn’t thought to grab anything else. Strange as it was, he wasn’t exactly kicking himself over it. His thoughts took a dark yet comforting turn; one that would’ve been alarming to anyone other than Cloud if they’d known about them.

Cloud was familiar with his more macabre way of thinking and general outlook though. It was natural, as far as he knew. To be the planet’s savior, the last weapon to be used to protect humanity from extinction meant only one thing: he couldn’t die. Despite being forced into this position, the junk running through his veins also made damn sure he’d be around forever to do it. So, like a child being told they couldn’t have any more sweets, Cloud began craving his end. He never shared his darkness with anyone, unsure of how someone who hadn’t been through what he’d endured would ever be able to get it. Fear was what kept his lips sealed, his thoughts tightly contained within the barriers of his mind. Fear of finding misunderstanding in the eyes of his friends when they looked at him, their view changed forever from Cloud being stoic and strong to him being as shaken and fragile as he actually was.

Cloud sighed, his fingers curling in the dirty puddle of blood as he relaxed and glanced around. It was a good place to die. There was a nice view of growth in the green fields and some shade from the cliffside towering over his head that brought him a feeling of content. He found himself frowning though, knowing he should feel terrified with death clutching at his throat. His instincts should be kicking in with a flood of adrenaline, pushing him to crawl along the dirt and grass where Fenrir was parked for a cure. Instead, he felt resignation settling over him. Cloud’s lips curled when he wondered who all he’d see again soon. Memories of Aerith and Zack came to mind, drawing a smile and a little sigh while the corner of his lips lifted higher. A glimpse of black leather and hair the color of steel flashed in his mind too, causing his breath to hitch as he recoiled from his daydreams. 

Cloud blinked a few times, narrowing his eyes as he struggled to focus on something out in the middle of the grassy flatland. A dark figure approached from a distance, getting impossibly closer each time he blinked. Within seconds, his hallucination went from a small splotch of contrasting color against the bright surroundings to standing directly in front of where he was sprawled out, venomous eyes glaring down at him. He was dreaming, he had to be, or it was part of the process of finally slipping from reality into the lifestream. Cloud could think of no other reason for Sephiroth to be there. 

He wondered if maybe he came to torture Cloud during his last breaths of life? Maybe he showed up to escort Cloud back to where Jenova had been waiting with him, to exact revenge with his Mother against the man who ruined everything for them both? Or maybe Sephiroth was crouching down near his feet at that moment because he simply wanted to watch his eyes dim and hear his heart go still? He probably wanted to be present when Cloud Strife finally, or rather officially perished.

Cloud barely had any strength left in his body. His fingers immediately twitched while Sephiroth’s form shrunk down to his knees, hovering closer to him than he’d prefer. His eyes flicked over to where his sword landed out of reach, but the glance was sluggish enough to show he’d never reach it in time; that thought quickly followed by one questioning why he’d try to grab his weapon at all. A cruel laugh crawled up out of Cloud’s throat at his small revelation. His instincts were more attuned to fight Sephiroth than they were to fight for his own survival. He calmed himself again after a few moments, ready to fully embrace what was to come.

Sephiroth remained hunched over him, completely unreadable. Their eyes were locked, which was about all Cloud could manage to do by that point. The longer their eyes lingered, the more Cloud felt something tickle the back of his skull. He vaguely wondered if it was the other man trying to control him like he’d done in the past, but he hardly cared one way or another. If Sephiroth wanted to puppeteer him one last time before he died, well, there wasn’t enough left in him to fight it or refuse. A smile hinted along his lips as he let the barriers that protected his mind from Sephiroth fall.

When the walls dropped, Cloud wasn’t immediately overpowered by the man. He frowned in confusion at first, his expression falling slack when he was eventually overcome. His eyes glazed over from the man’s startling intrusion. It differed from anything he’d felt or experienced before. Where limbs should move against his will, where he should fight and struggle to regain control over himself while a deep and distant laughter echoed around him in the process, Cloud instead found pain; more pain than he could ever hope to endure. The connection they shared had been changed. Cloud was overwhelmed, drowning with memories and sensations that belonged to Sephiroth.

Curls of vicious intent latched onto him, penetrating every muscle and molecule of his body’s genius design. Jenova’s deception was an ominous melody braided through the countless hours of Hojo’s insatiable madness, her whispered lies becoming a frail shred of promise in the dismal future planned for him since preexistence. He felt physically torn to pieces when one half of his hope deserted from Shinra, those pieces engulfed in the flames of burning abandonment when the second half dutifully followed. Then came darkness and... so much loneliness. It left such a void in his heart, there was no other option than for those haunting whispers to fill it with the semblance of what he’d once possessed. 

Acceptance, attachment, belonging… kinship… but a methodical mind knew better.

Flickers of the past flashed behind Cloud’s eyes, pulling him from the pain and anguish he didn’t notice had been diluted to make it bearable. Every interaction where Cloud and Sephiroth were close to one another was laced with defiance, Jenova’s manipulations all but removed to invoke much deeper needs. Recognition of failure left him tarnished, but incited truth. That deep-seeded yearning for acceptance was uprooted in favor of bringing an end to what never should have begun; to destroy what should never have been created. Encounters between them suddenly tilted out of Sephiroth’s favor as he deliberately put himself in vulnerable positions; struggling to pull back on limitless strength, the stunted screams of Jenova’s will going ignored as the blade pierced their shared form. 

Sephiroth’s disposition became... familiar to Cloud, unexpectedly. 

Cloud’s head cleared, his vision sharper than it had been before he became some type of curious spectator. He felt strength returning to his limbs, ebbing away the horrific torment he’d experienced a moment before. He raised his eyes, sensing Sephiroth’s infectious gaze already studying him. Cloud’s attention snagged on the man’s intricate belt, where a materia orb was slowly dimming and going dull. He wondered briefly if the magic materia was a restore or a revive. Had Sephiroth intervened while he dangled at the precipice of death, or had he already plunged toward the beyond? When he finally met the man’s eyes, Sephiroth spoke. 

“I will not end,” he announced, Cloud’s imagination implying that his tone was heavy with something akin to penance. Sephiroth turned with a flourish, the feathers of leather-stitched wings in his coat’s design almost taking on life before silver hair smothered them from his view. Silently, Sephiroth walked away, returning to wherever he came from without a second glance. Cloud frowned, but how could he just leave after everything he’d revealed to him? He was brimming with questions, all of them swarming in his mind at once, leaving him unable to utter a single word. He scowled at the man’s retreating form and began to rise to his feet again when Sephiroth finished what he started; leaving Cloud with more questions as his voice drifted away with the passing breeze, but at least one answer. 

“Nor will I have you end.”

**Author's Note:**

> ~Thanks again for reading!~


End file.
